Preview 2013

2013 will be another great year for Europe in space with launches and missions in several areas.

For launchers, the second flight of Vega is planned for the Spring. Ariane 5 and Soyuz continue their tasks from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana and, in particular, an Ariane will be sending up another Automated Transfer Vehicle in April with supplies for the International Space Station (ISS).

In May, the Station will become home to another ESA astronaut, Italian Luca Parmitano, who will participate in a long-duration flight, staying in space until the end of November.

More Earth Observation missions are planned, with another Earth Explorer, Swarm, studying Earth's magnetic fields, and Sentinel-1, which will represent the first satellite of the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) programme, a partnership between ESA, the European Commission and the European Environment Agency.